Turning Block Alignment

ABSTRACT

Conveyor for moving and positioning objects along a conveyor path, the conveyor including:
         a conveyor rail extending through a predefined conveying path;   at least one carriage having a rotatable article support; and   a turning block associated with the rotatable article support, to allow rotatable movement of the article support relative to the at least one carriage,   wherein the conveyor further includes an aligning station for rotating the article support into a predetermined position,   wherein the turning block has first disk with a first perimeter contour and a second disk with a second perimeter contour, and   wherein the alignment station has means for engaging the second disk for rotatingly aligning the article support into the predetermined position.

The invention relates to a conveyor having rotatable suspension hangers.In particular the invention is relevant to such rotatable suspensionhangers as used in processing lines for slaughtered animals, to suspendthe animal carcasses by their legs for movement past subsequentprocessing stations.

Such suspension hooks are in common use on poultry and fowl processinglines. One suitable example is described in EP 0786208, which disclosesa shackle for suspending poultry by their legs for movement by aconveyor track of a poultry processing line along individual processingstations. Thereby a trolley assembly is supported and guided along aconveyor track and moved there along by a transport chain. The poultrysuspension hooks are rotatably mounted to the trolley and an associatedturning gear is adapted to cooperate with means along the track torotate the poultry suspension hooks in predetermined rotary positions.At the location of individual processing stations the turning gear isusually retained between opposite parallel side guides to inhibit anyrotation when the suspended poultry carcass is processed at anindividual processing station. In between the processing stations theseparallel side guides may be interrupted. The side guides are alsointerrupted where the turning gear is engaged by means to effect itsrotation. To this end the turning gear, which is a substantially squarebody, has slots extending inwardly from its corners. These slots areengageable by a turning pin positioned along the conveyor path. Ayieldable indexing arrangement between the trolley and the turning gearensures that the rotary position is retained when moving further alongthe track. This is of particular importance at locations where thelateral side guides are interrupted.

Usually the yieldable indexing means—such a spring biased ball andsocket assembly with opposite cavities and recesses for holding andreceiving the ball and spring between the relatively rotatable parts -are effective to keep the turning blocks in their rotated positionsbetween treatment stations. However given the open arrangement of, inparticular, poultry processing lines, a risk cannot be excluded thataccidental external obstructions in the path of the conveyor mayunintentionally alter the rotational position of a turning blockin-between treatment stations. Should this occur and remain undetected awrongly positioned suspension hanger may cause damage to a treatmentstations, or at least result in a treated product that is defective.

Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to propose turningblock alignment for an overhead conveyor. In a more general sense it isan object of the invention to overcome or ameliorate at least one of thedisadvantages of the prior art. It is also an object of the presentinvention to provide alternative structures which are less cumbersome inassembly and operation and which moreover can be made relativelyinexpensively. Alternatively it is an object of the invention to atleast provide the public with a useful choice.

To this end the invention provides for a conveyor as defined in one ormore of the appended claims. The conveyor according to the inventionthus includes a turning block alignment device that may be arrangedupstream of a treatment station and thereby protect this treatmentstation for possible damage or malfunction due to a wrongly positionedsuspension hanger.

The invention also provides a conveyor for moving and positioningobjects along a conveyor path, the conveyor comprise: a conveyor railextending along the conveying path; at least one carriage movable alongthe conveyor rail; an article support rotatably mounted with respect tothe carriage; a turning block associated with the article support,rotation of the turning block causing corresponding rotation of thearticle support; an aligning station in the path of the turning blockfor rotating the turning block and article support to a predeterminedorientation; the turning block having a first disk with a firstperimeter contour and a second disk with a second perimeter contour, andthe aligning station including features for selectively engaging atleast the second

disk as the turning block moves through the aligning station to rotatethe article support into the predetermined orientation.

Conveyors according to the invention are in particular suitable formoving animal carcasses in spaced sequential relationship along aprocessing path, when the conveyor comprises at least: an elongated railextending along the processing path; a plurality of carriages mountedfor movement along the rail; a drive member for moving the plurality ofcarriages along processing path; each carriage including a turning blockrotatable between indexed positions with respect to the processing path;a shackle depending from and rotatable with each turning block, eachshackle being configured to hold an animal carcass suspended therefrom;an aligning station disposed along the processing path in substantialalignment with the turning blocks of carriages moving along theprocessing path; and features associated with the aligning station forselectively engaging the turning blocks of carriages moving through thealigning station in such a way that the turning blocks and shacklesemerge from the aligning station in a single predetermined orientationregardless of their orientations when entering the aligning station.

The invention also provides for a method of orienting a poultry shackledepending from a conveyor carriage to a predetermined orientation as thepoultry shackle moves along a processing path, the method comprising thesteps of: (i) moving the conveyor carriage through an aligning stationlocated along the processing path; (ii) if the poultry shackle is in thepredetermined orientation upon entering the aligning station, allowingthe poultry shackle to pass through the aligning station unaffected toemerge from the aligning station in the predetermined orientation; and(iii) if the poultry shackle is not in the predetermined orientationupon entering the aligning station, rotating the poultry shackle betweena predetermined number of indexed orientations within the aligningstation until the poultry shackle is oriented in and emerges from thealigning station in the predetermined orientation.

In one advantageous arrangement a conveyor assembly is provided forconveying articles along processing stations including a conveyor inaccordance with the invention in combination at least one carriage andassociated article support that includes a trolley for engagement by theconveyor; a shackle configured to support an article, and rotatable withrespect to the trolley; a turning block associated with the shackle,rotation of the turning block with respect to the trolley causingcorresponding rotation of the shackle relative to the trolley; andyieldable indexing means operatively arranged between the trolley andthe turning block to define at least a first and a second incrementalrotational position for the shackle, in which the yieldable indexingmeans are biased into engagement by magnetic forces.

Accordingly a conveyor is disclosed for moving and positioning objectsalong a conveyor path. The conveyor includes a conveyor rail extendingalong the conveyor path and at least one carriage having a rotatablearticle support mounted for movement along the conveyor rail. A turningblock associated with the rotatable article support facilitatesrotatable movement of the article support when the turning block isrotated. The conveyor further includes an aligning station for rotatingthe article support into a predetermined position when the turning blockpasses through the aligning station as the article support moves throughthe aligning station. The turning may be formed with a first disk with afirst perimeter contour and a second disk with a second perimetercontour. The alignment station has projections in the form of pins forengaging the second disk as needed for rotating the turning block andarticle support between indexed orientations until the article supportis oriented in a predetermined desired orientation. The article supportmay be a poultry shackle for suspending poultry carcasses and movingthem along the conveyor path.

Further advantageous aspects of the invention will become clear from theappended claims and from the following description of preferredembodiments.

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a conveyor according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a rotatable article support and turningblock as used in the conveyor of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a first embodiment of a turning block foruse in the rotatable article support of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4A-4C are schematic views showing the various options provided bythe aligning station;

FIGS. 5A-5B are schematic views showing the turning station options forleft hand and right hand rotations;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective illustration of a rotatable articlesupport;

FIG. 7 is a cross section of the exploded perspective illustration ofFIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a side elevation in ghost view of the article support of FIGS.6 and 7;

FIG. 9 is a rear elevation in ghost view of the article support of FIGS.6, 7 and 8;

FIG. 10 shows a first arrangement of turning pins in relation to a firstoutput position for the article support;

FIG. 11 shows a second arrangement of turning pins in relation to asecond output position of the article support;

FIG. 12 shows a third arrangement of turning pins in relation to a thirdoutput position for the article support; and

FIG. 13 shows a fourth arrangement of turning pins in relation to afourth output position for the article support.

Referring first to FIG. 1 there is shown a conveyor rail 1 that heretakes the form of a pipe or rod. Guided for movement along the rail 1are pairs of trolleys 3 carrying individual carriages 5. The trolleys 3are interconnected by a chain 7, which pulls the trolleys 3 andcarriages 5 along the rail 1. Positioned along a conveying path definedby the rail 1 is a combined aligning and turning station 9. The aligningand turning station 9 may be provided with rows of openings 11 in twolevels, one above the other. The openings 11 may each optionally receivea respective first, second, third or fourth turning pin 13, 15, 17, 19,for a purpose explained herein below.

FIG. 2 shows the rotatable article support of the carriage 5 in anexploded arrangement. A suspension shackle 21 is non-rotatably connectedto turning block 22. A retention pin 23 is inserted through both theshackle 21 and the turning block 22 to obtain the non-rotatableconnection. A carriage block 24 rotatably receives the turning block 22by means of a bolt 26 and various washers 25, 27 and 28. The bolt 26thereby engages bushing 30 that affixes to the the turning block 22. Thecarriage block 24 is suspended from the trolleys (only shown in FIG. 1),by trolley brackets 29. Each trolley bracket 29 is secured in a slot inthe carriage block 24 and affixed by a respective securing pin 32. Theturning block 22 can be retained in indexed positions with respect tothe carriage block 24, by indexing means in the form of magnets 31 orequivalent indexing means, such as a ball and spring.

In FIG. 3 a possible embodiment of the turning block 22 is shown in anexploded arrangement. The turning block 22 is seen to comprise an upperlevel disk 41 and a lower level disk 43. The upper level disk 41 has agenerally square perimeter, interrupted by four diagonally extendingslots 45 opening into the corners of the square perimeter and extendinginwardly there from. The lower level disk 43 is similarly shaped to theupper level disk 41, but is substantially shorter on one of its sidesand thereby effectively only has two diagonally extending slots 47. Theupper and lower level disks 41, 43 each have a respective central bore49, 51.

In FIGS. 4A-4C it is schematically shown that the lower level disk 43,irrespective of the rotative position in which it meets the first,second and third turning pins 13, 15, 17 in the direction of conveyance53, will end up in the predetermined position. As can be seen in eitherone of the FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C the position of the lower level disk 43after passing the first, second and third turning pins 13, 15, 17 isexactly the same. This may be used to correct the rotative positions ofthe article supports (carriages 5 in FIG. 1 and the shackle 21 of FIG.2) before these are conveyed towards a treatment station that may bepositioned along the path of conveyance or the conveyor.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are schematic representations, similar to FIG. 4, butshowing the upper level disk 41 being rotated through 90 degreeincrements. This rotation in increments of 90 degrees can be in a lefthand rotational direction by fourth turning pin 19 or alternatively in aright hand rotational direction by a fourth turning pin 19A that extendsfrom an opposite side of the conveying path, as shown in FIG. 5B.

In FIG. 6 an exploded arrangement is shown of a rotatable articlesupport assembly 101. The article support assembly 101 is provided witha shackle 103, which in this example is a so called weighing shackle forthe suspension of animal carcasses, such as fowl or poultry carcasses.The shackle 103 is rotatably suspended from a base block 105. The baseblock 105 is arranged for movement along an overhead conveyor rail ortrack (not shown, but conventional). Such conveyor rails or tracks arecommon in industrial apparatuses for carrying out a succession ofprocessing steps. Commonly such conveying tracks are laid out in acontinuous loop that defines a path of conveyance along a plurality ofprocessing stations. Such systems are well known in the meat processingindustry, but are also used in other disciplines of industry andmanufacture. In this regard the base block 105 forms a trolley orcarriage that is linked to similar base blocks of adjacent articlesupport assemblies by trolley brackets 107 and chains, or the like. Thetrolley brackets 107 are attached to the base block 105 by means ofbolts 109 and nuts 111. Extending upwardly from shackle 103 is a shaft113 to which an abutment flange 115 is attached by means of a firsttransverse pin 117. The shaft 113 extends upwardly through a centralbore in the base block 105, which central is enlarged at the upper endof the base block 105 to form a cavity 119. The cavity 119, as best seenin FIG. 7, has three bores 121 (only one being visible in FIG. 7) foreach receiving a lower magnet 123. The cavity 119 has a groove 125 fornon-rotatably receiving an indexing plunger 127 which has its perimeteradapted to the contour of cavity 119 to inhibit relative rotation but toallow axial movement of the plunger 127.

Not visible in FIGS. 6 and 7, but visible in the ghost views of FIGS. 8and 9, the indexing plunger 127 has bores opening into its bottomsurface for receiving upper magnets 129. In this example the lowermagnets 123 are positioned with their north poles on top and the uppermagnets 129 are positioned with their north poles facing down. In suchan orientation, the lower and upper magnets 123, 129 will repulse oneanother, so that the indexing plunger 127 carries a number of radialindexing formations 131, which cooperate with complementary indexingformation on a lower face of a turning gear, or turning block 133. Inthis example, the indexing formations 131 provide rotational positionsthat are 90° apart. The turning block 133 is mounted to the shaft 113 bymeans of a second transverse pin 135. Spacing between transverse bore inthe shaft 113 for receiving the first and second transverse pins 117,135 is such that the base block 105 is snugly and rotatably receivedbetween the abutment flange 115 and the turning block 133. Thereby alsothe indexing plunger 127 is held within the cavity 119 of the base block105 against the repulsive forces of the confronting lower and uppermagnets 123, 129. The magnets 123, 129 are preferably identical andsintered rare earth magnets. Such sintered rare earth magnets maycontain neodymium or be ceramic magnets of ferrous material. Anothersuitable magnet material may be samarium cobalt. The polarity of thelower and upper magnets 123, 129 should be properly directed to obtainthe repulsive force necessary to bias the indexing formation 131 inengagement with the turning block 133. This can be with the north polesof confronting magnets facing one another, but may also be achieved byhaving the south poles facing one another. The important aspect is thatequal poles of confronting magnets are facing one another. The turningblock 133 further has diagonal slots 137 extending diagonally inwardlyfrom each corner of the substantially square contour of the turningblock 133.

In FIGS. 8 and 9 a side and a rear elevation of the assembled articlesupport assembly 101 are illustrated as ghost views. Thereby internalparts like the magnets 123, 129, the indexing plunger 127 and theindexing formations 131 are visible as if the base block 105 and theturning block 133 were of transparent material. Also best visible inFIGS. 8 and 9 is that the turning block 133 has an upper cut-out 139along one edge extending between adjacent slots 137, as well as a lowercut-out 141 along another edge that is perpendicular to the one edge.

The purpose of the upper and lower cut-outs will now be described inreference to FIGS. 10 to 13. In FIGS. 10 to 13 several output positionsare shown for the article support assembly 101, after having passed aparticular aligning, or turning station 143A, 143B, 143C, 143D in adirection of conveyance indicated by arrow 145. The representation ofFIGS. 10 to 13 is essentially schematic and structure that is notdirectly relevant to a correct understanding of the disclosure, isomitted for clarity. Also the article support assembly 101 is shown in asimplified form with the turning block 133 separated in two levels ofdisks 133A, 133B to better visualise the upper and lower cut-outs 139,141. Each of the turning stations 143A-143D has opposed left and righthand guiding walls 147, 149. Each right hand guiding wall 147, 149 has aseries of openings 151 in a upper and a lower row, each consisting ofthree openings 151. Each opening 151 is adapted to selectively receive aturning pin 153. As shown in FIG. 10, three turning pins 153 aresuccessively arranged in the upper row of openings 151 of the left handguiding wall 47. Irrespective of the rotational position of the articlesupport assembly 101 when it enters the turning station 143A, the threesuccessive turning pins 153 in the upper row will always be sufficientto engage as many of the diagonal slots 137 as is necessary to bring theupper cut-out 139 (in level 133A of the turning block) in a positionfacing the left hand guide rail 147, once it has passed all threeturning pins 153.

As shown in FIG. 11, three turning pins 153 are now mounted in the upperrow of three opening 151 of the right hand guiding wall 149. This hasthe effect that article supported assembly 101 will now leave theturning station 143B with the upper cut-out 139 facing the right handguiding wall 149. This results in a different position of the shackle103 than that achieved with the turning station 143A of FIG. 10.

In FIG. 12 again a different arrangement of turning station 143C isshown. In this variation the three successive turning pins 153 arepositioned in the lower row of opening 151 of the left hand guiding wall147. The pins 153 now engage the diagonal slots 137 at the lower portion133B of the turning block. Upon passage of the article support assembly101 through the turning station 143C in the direction 145 of conveyance,the lower cut-out 141 will emerge from the turning station 143C, facingthe left hand guide wall 147.

In a further variation according to FIG. 13, the turning station 143Dhas the successive turning pins 153 installed on the lower row ofopenings 151 in the right hand guide wall 149. This results in the lowercut-out 141 of the lower portion 133B of the turning block to emergefrom the turning station 143D facing the right hand side wall 149. Whileone level of turning pins 153 that are 180° apart, using a second levelfor positioning the turning pins and a second cut-out at 90° from thefirst cut-out, enables positioning of the article support assembly 101at predetermined position at 90°.

Accordingly an article support assembly 101 is disclosed that is adaptedfor movement by a conveyor along a path of conveyance. The articlesupport assembly 101 includes a trolley 105 for engagement by theconveyor and a shackle 103 configured to support an article, androtatable with respect to the trolley. A turning block 133 is associatedwith the shackle 103, and rotation of the turning block with respect tothe trolley 105 causes corresponding rotation of the shackle relative tothe trolley. Yieldable indexing means 123, 127, 129, 131 are operativelyarranged between the trolley 105 and the turning block 133 to define atleast a first and a second incremental rotational position for theshackle 103. The yieldable indexing means 123, 127, 129, 131 of thearticle support assembly 101 are biased into engagement by magneticrepelling forces. A conveyor system for conveying articles alongprocessing stations is adapted to include the article support assembly101 and comprises a turning station 143A, 143B, 143C, 143D for giving apredetermined rotational position to the shackle 3 with respect to thetrolley 105.

While it has been described in the above example that the indexingplunger 127 and the turning block providing the yieldable indexing meansare biased into engagement by magnetic repelling forces, it isalternatively also possible to obtain this bias by attracting magneticforces. This effect can be obtained by positioning lower magnet in theindexing plunger 127, and accommodating upper magnets in suitable boresin the turning block 133, but with the confronting lower and uppermagnets then positioned to have their opposite poles facing one another.

It is thus believed that the operation and construction of the presentinvention will be apparent from the foregoing description and drawingsappended thereto. It will be clear to the skilled person that theinvention is not limited to any embodiment herein described and thatmodifications are possible which should be considered within the scopeof the appended claims. Also kinematic inversions are consideredinherently disclosed and to be within the scope of the invention. In theclaims, any reference signs shall not be construed as limiting theclaim. The term ‘comprising’ and ‘including’ when used in thisdescription or the appended claims should not be construed in anexclusive or exhaustive sense but rather in an inclusive sense. Thus theexpression ‘comprising’ as used herein does not exclude the presence ofother elements or steps in addition to those listed in any claim.Furthermore, the words ‘a’ and ‘an’ shall not be construed as limited to‘only one’, but instead are used to mean ‘at least one’, and do notexclude a plurality. Features that are not specifically or explicitlydescribed or claimed may be additionally included in the structure ofthe invention within its scope. Expressions such as: “means for . . . ”should be read as: “component configured for . . . ” or “memberconstructed to . . . ” and should be construed to include equivalentsfor the structures disclosed. The use of expressions like: “critical”,“preferred”, “especially preferred” etc. is not intended to limit theinvention. Additions, deletions, and modifications within the purview ofthe skilled person may generally be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention, as is determined by the claims.

1. Conveyor for moving and positioning objects along a conveyor path,the conveyor including: a conveyor rail extending through a predefinedconveying path; at least one carriage movable along the conveyor rail; arotatable article support associated with the at least one carriage; aturning block associated with the rotatable article support, to allowrotatable movement of the article support relative to the at least onecarriage; and an aligning station for rotating the article support intoa predetermined position, wherein the turning block has first disk witha first perimeter contour and a second disk with a second perimetercontour, and wherein the alignment station has means for selectivelyengaging at least the second disk in response to movement of the turningblock through the aligning station to rotatingly aligning the articlesupport into the predetermined position.
 2. Conveyor according to claim1, wherein the first disk is an upper level disk and the second disk isa lower level disk.
 3. Conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the firstand second disk are formed as a single unitary element.
 4. Conveyoraccording to claim 1, wherein the aligning station includes a series offirst, second and third turning pins arranged in a row that coincideswith a level of a plane through the second disk.
 5. Conveyor accordingto claim 4, wherein the aligning station has a first row of openingsaligned in a plane through the first disk and a second row of openingsaligned in the plane through the second disk, and wherein each of thefirst and second rows of openings is adapted to receive any one of atleast the first, second and third turning pins for engaging the seconddisk and alternatively a fourth turning pin for engaging the first disk.6. Conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the first disk has asubstantially square perimeter with slots extending diagonally inwardlyfrom each of its four corners, and wherein the second disk has asubstantially rectangular perimeter with only two slots extendingdiagonally inwardly from two of its corners.
 7. Conveyor assembly forconveying articles along processing stations including a conveyor inaccordance with one of the preceding claims and wherein the aligningstation is a turning station and wherein the at least one carriage andassociated article support include a trolley for engagement by theconveyor; a shackle configured to support an article, and rotatable withrespect to the trolley; a turning block associated with the shackle,rotation of the turning block with respect to the trolley causingcorresponding rotation of the shackle relative to the trolley; andyieldable indexing means operatively arranged between the trolley andthe turning block to define at least a first and a second incrementalrotational position for the shackle, in which the yieldable indexingmeans are biased into engagement by magnetic forces.
 8. Conveyorassembly according to claim 7, wherein the turning block has asubstantially rectangular perimeter contour with diagonal slotsextending radially inwardly from each corner, further includes an uppercut-out along one perimeter edge extending between adjacent slots, and alower cut-out extending along another perimeter edge that isperpendicular to the one perimeter edge, and wherein the turning stationincludes a succession of three turning pins positioned to engage apredetermined selection of diagonal slots of the turning block as wellas allowing passage of at least one of the upper and lower cut-outs. 9.Conveyor assembly according to claim 8, wherein the turning pins areselectively mountable in upper and lower rows of openings provided inone of a right hand and left hand guide wall.
 10. Conveyor or conveyorassembly according claim 7, wherein it is an animal carcass conveyor foruse in a poultry and/or fowl processing line.